Google Steps On Some Literati Toes — & Wins

Google Steps On Some Literati Toes — & Wins

Is there anything that Google can't do? Well, its latest coup against The Authors Guild seems to prove, no. According to The Verge, after years of battling with literati about its online-library initiative, Google scored a major win and will now be able to move forward with it — sans the pesky semantics of coughing up dough for copyright violations.

The Authors Guild claims that the program is a violation of copyright infringement, since books are scanned and presented full-text without the authors' permission. They requested that Google pay $750 per entry (which isn’t chump change considering the 20 million iterations to choose from). The court’s major ruling granted Google federal permission, citing that the tech behemoth not only intends fair use, but is offering an innovative and transforming service. While Google is prohibited from selling or advertising on the platform, the data pulled from embedded algorithms can be used for other Google services. Of course, this isn't the happily ever after The Authors Guild hoped for; members have already spoken out on plans to appeal. The saga continues! (The Verge)